The Politics of Method: Arendt and Foucault on Hobbes

Abstract In The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) and the “ Society Must Be Defended ” lectures (1975–1976), Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault present unexpected engagements with Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan . This article contextualizes and elucidates their interpretations of Hobbes by foregrounding the genealogical aspect of their projects. Their readings of Leviathan reflect common methodological commitments and figure the distinct but related problematics which Foucault and Arendt articulate, encapsulating the differences between their influential conceptions of power. The article concludes with a reading of Hobbes’ theory of the liberty of subjects, which, while not explicitly addressed by Arendt or Foucault, lends support to their treatments of his text. Comparing their readings of Hobbes opens a potentially generative dialogue between their critiques of sovereignty and racialized state violence.